Old Saybrook — Hundreds of Amtrak passengers headed to Boston were stuck near the Old Saybrook station for about 4½ hours Tuesday when the train they were on encountered an engine problem, an Amtrak spokesman said late Tuesday.

The 185 passengers on the train were transferred to a second Northeast Regional train, but that train, too, "became disabled with an engine problem of its own," Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said in an email.

The passengers of both trains finally left Old Saybrook on a third train at around 11 p.m., Schulz said. The first train became disabled at around 6:36 p.m., Schulz said.

Passengers were allowed to wait either on the train or in the Old Saybrook train station, Schulz said. The disabled trains did not have power.